Disk Defragmenter is a Windows utility that consolidates fragmented files and folders on your computer's hard disk so that each occupies a single space on the disk. With your files stored neatly end-to-end, without fragmentation, reading and writing to the disk speeds up.

The Internet, as it exists today, was started in the early '90s by scholars and researchers as a way to share documents and research papers electronically. They developed a simple method called HTTP (Hypertext Transfer Protocol) for trading files, and a simple format called HTML (Hypertext Markup Language) for those files. Virtually every Web site you've ever seen (including Flash Web sites) has used these two technologies.

HTML, though a grand idea, did not originally offer much control over presentation of documents. Soon, the language grew to include the option for images, colors, and more visual style. Web designers began to use HTML and constantly asked for more and more control over presentation. It quickly became obvious that the language could only go so far to please everyone, and the researchers thought much of this control would be better suited to alternate technologies.

Some of these alternate technologies, such as JavaScript and CSS (Cascading Style Sheets), were designed to work seamlessly alongside HTML. JavaScript adds interactivity and functionality to Web pages whereas CSS allows a large amount of control over style properties such as colors, fonts, and layout.

Windows XP includes its own backup program, although you may need to do some digging to find it. You can also take your pick of third-party programs (listed at the end of this column) that add bells and whistles you won't find in the basic Windows XP Backup utility.

If you use Windows XP Professional, the Windows Backup utility (Ntbackup.exe) should be ready for use. If you use Windows XP Home Edition, you'll need to follow these steps to install the utility:

In addition to running Disk Cleanup and Disk Defragmenter to optimize the performance of your computer, you can check the integrity of the files stored on your hard disk by running the Error Checking utility.

As you use your hard drive, it can develop bad sectors. Bad sectors slow down hard disk performance and sometimes make data writing (such as file saving) difficult, or even impossible. The Error Checking utility scans the hard drive for bad sectors, and scans for file system errors to see whether certain files or folders are misplaced.

Important Note: Because the Recovery Console is quite powerful, it is recommended for use only by advanced users or administrators. The Windows Recovery Console is designed to help you recover when your computer does not start properly or does not start at all.

When you use the Windows Recovery Console, you can obtain limited access to NTFS, FAT, and FAT32 volumes without starting the Windows graphical interface. In the Windows Recovery Console you can: Use, copy, rename or replace operating system files and folders, Enable or disable services or devices from starting when you next start your computer, Repair the file system boot sector or the Master Boot Record (MBR), Create and format partitions on drives.
Only an administrator can obtain access to the Windows Recovery Console so that unauthorized users cannot use any NTFS volume.